Guard Your Heart By DeAnza Duron
GUARD YOUR HEART
It’s interesting that psychologists now refer to the heart as the “second brain”! It appears our decisions and life choices are directly affected by our hearts, and not just our brains, as believed until recently!
Wow!! I guess the scripture “guard your heart “ is incredibly accurate! Actually, the whole verse is even more thought provoking!
“ABOVE ALL ELSE, GUARD YOUR HEART, FOR EVERYTHING YOU DO FLOWS FROM IT” Proverbs 4:23.
In the Old Testament the word “heart” is used more than 800 times, but more than 200 times it deals with the thought life, the emotions, the wellsprings of life, those things that motivate and mold us.
FOR A PARENT, GUARDING YOUR HEART IS CRUCIAL!!
Why? BECAUSE OUR CHILDREN’S FUTURES DEPEND ON THE CONDITION OF THEIR HEART!
As parents, everything we do (good & not so good!!) for ourselves and our families flows from the condition of our hearts.
Does this mean we never have negative thoughts or emotions of fear, confusion or exasperation!? Is it realistic to think we can forever rid ourselves of the ugly emotions like jealousy, pride or self pity!? No, but our weak moments can be TEMPORARY…. IF WE CONSISTENTLY REFUSE TO NORMALIZE & INTERNALIZE THESE POISONS!!
I can remember many times as a busy, challenged mom, feeling like a failure when I battled harmful emotions! But I knew giving in to these common (but incredibly dangerous) attitudes would steal my strength, joy & destiny!
EVERYONE MUST LEARN TO INTENTIONALLY PROTECT THEIR EMOTIONS AND CHOOSE TO LIVE IN HOPE, TRUST & FORGIVENESS!
PARENTS MODEL EITHER A HEART OF LOVE OR FEAR. Children learn from their parents the perspective of guarding against unforgiveness, selfishness, pride, and hopelessness.
3 Daily Practical Ways to Guard Our Hearts:
GUARD YOUR MOUTH
GUARD YOUR EYES
GUARD YOUR THOUGHTS
Let’s talk briefly about our WORDS:
Declare your home a CRITICISM FREE environment. Hang a sign in your kitchen, if you have to! Seriously!! (Of course, make sure it’s stylish & cool! But, very visible! Lol).
Choosing words that are kind, merciful and forgiving create emotions and an atmosphere of love, peace & security! Your toxic words CONTAMINATE YOUR ATTITUDE … AND YOUR FAMILY’S ATTITUDE!
SECONDLY, let’s set some guidelines for how we SEE! Give your family the ”lens” of seeing their every failure as a lesson to grow by. We can even learn to SEE other people’s mistakes & toxic reactions to us as motivation to guard ourselves from ever choosing the same!
As parents we can model to our children the lifestyle of LOOKING FOR opportunities to grow and learn!! Normalize mistakes and make them daily learning opportunities!
THIRDLY, we can guard our hearts by LISTENING TO OUR THOUGHTS, and judging them! There are times we all must protect ourselves from our own negative, harmful inner dialogue!.
It's called “SELF LEADING”! Humans have the unique God-given ability to step back from ourselves and self-correct! Taking certain thoughts “captive” and choosing to go a better, more healthy direction is a basic step in PROTECTING OUR HEARTS!
Families today are battling depression, addiction, disunity and relational strife! We must all guard our minds and emotions!
We really can intentionally monitor our relationships & lifestyles by GUARDING OUR MOUTHS, OUR EYES AND OUR THOUGHTS.
BE ENCOURAGED: we can choose to SIMPLIFY LIFE and just make smart decisions!! CHOOSE TO GUARD YOUR HEART… today and EVERY DAY!❤️
Never Give Up,
DeAnza Duron